Some #SoMe Research So Far

My take aways since I began delving into this subject are these:

Phew, there’s a lot to learn!

 

There are a lot of questions to consider as I think about bringing Social Media (and more technology in general) to our Student Services/Academic Advising department.

  • Is it going to be accessible? Are they good resources for all students, or just the privileged? Who is our target group and what do they need? Will the info be helpful or extraneous
  • What is our objective? What’s the point of doing this?
  • Do we have the time/staffing/resources to make it worth it? Will the benefits outweigh the costs?
  • What technology are we already using, and what could we do better? What’s working well? What’s not working?
  • What are the desired outcomes for our department? What data do we need to gather to have proof that what we do works? How would we gather that?
  • Is it going to be secure? Is FERPA being met?
  • How would we advertise? Would we need flyers, posters? An FYI announcement?

 

Some things I know for sure are that I want to find a way to bring student services online, in order to help as many students as possible. We’re a small department, and anything to help students outside of the capabilities of our packed schedules would be a benefit. “When used correctly, social media can be a powerful communication tool.”[1]

 

 

 

[1] https://studentaffairscollective.org/your-second-self-social-media-and-online-expression/

Hello world!

I’ll keep that title.

I made this blog to keep all my notes and research for my current role at Bellevue College in an easily assessable place. I’m the Online Advisor in Academic Advising, a part-time role where I answer emails for the department inbox, as well as take part in training and various other functions. My interests, however, lie in growing both the role and the capacity for BC Advising to take part in the wide range of uses that technology and social media have to offer. I’ve been diving into a lot of research and making connections across the board, and I would like to publish those in one place, as I come across them.

My hopes lie in two areas:

  1. That technology advancements can be used to support fully online students, in the same ways and with all the same resources that on-campus students have access to.
  2. That social media can be used to spread awareness of advising to the whole student body, getting each student accurate information quickly and on a platform that students use already in their daily lives. I’m interested in the student’s desire for accurate and up-to-the-minute information, and how that could translate to an interactive and lively advising department. I’m also aware that our advisors are extremely busy, and so I want to use the technology and the social media advances as a way to reach more students as a group, in order to take some of the load off each advisor individually.

I’m new to advising, and I don’t know all the ins and outs of a campus as far as policies and politics. I also know that our budget is small, and our staff are stretched to their limits, but I am hopeful about collecting success stories, details and information, and finding possibilities to making positive changes to our campus and to each student.

Thank you for reading!